Jack Smith 'has a plan to avoid' hurdles thrown up by Aileen Cannon: former Florida judge

ALSO READ: 'Republican on Republican violence': GOP civil war threat after Todd Blanche vote derailed

At the same time that Judge Aileen Cannon was pressing lawyers for Donald Trump and Department of Justice prosecutors for a timetable to bring the Mar-a-Lago document case to trial, a former Florida judge was telling CNN that he believes special counsel Jack Smith has a "plan" to move forward no matter how Cannon rules.

Speaking with CNN's Dana Bash, Jeff Swartz noted a DOJ lawyer telling Cannon earlier that they plan to pursue the trial of the former president even it bumps up against the November election.

Asked what his takeaway from the hearing was, Swartz stated, "Well, for the notes that we've heard from before that I've been following, the reports that have been coming out, clearly, they're not going to get a July 8 date."

"And I'm not going to hesitate to say that Trump has to be careful because he might get yet what he's asking for, which would open up trial dates for [Judge Tanya] Chutkan after the Supreme Court comes back," he continued, referring to SCOTUS decision to hear Trump's immunity arguments. Those hearings are scheduled for late April.

"So he needs to get something in late August, early September to kind of interfere with that set, that trial being set then."

ALSO READ: ‘America First’ is Trump first, Russia close second

"However, I think that Jack has a backup plan for that, and I think that he'll get what he wants from Chutkan, which is probably sometime in late July, early August," he elaborated. "I anticipate the Supreme Court will wait until the very end of the term to issue their opinion and I think that he has a plan to avoid whatever Judge Cannon does."

Watch below or at the link.

CNN 03 01 2024 12 04 57 youtu.be

For customer support contact support@rawstory.com. Report typos and corrections to corrections@rawstory.com.

Trump declares 'complete disarmament' of Hamas and other 'armed groups'

President Donald Trump proclaimed on his Truth Social platform Thursday that he has reached a solution for the Gaza war.

"Today, the Board of Peace reached a HISTORIC agreement for the COMPLETE DISARMAMENT of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza," said Trump. "This is a monumental step toward lasting PEACE and SECURITY." He called the agreement a "critical step" toward "Gaza finally being governed by a new Palestinian government that will work closely with the Board of Peace to help the Palestinian people," while ensuring Israel's security.

"This is a major milestone in the implementation of the Trump 20-Point Plan," Trump continued. "The agreement will be carried out in carefully structured phases. As disarmament is completed, Israeli forces will withdraw, and the International Stabilization Force will work with a new Palestinian police force to take responsibility for Gaza being safe for its residents and its neighbors."

"One year ago there was a violent raging war, humanitarian crisis and hostages kept in brutal captivity," the president continued. "We have made historic progress and there is still much work to do ... the threat that emerged from Gaza on October 7 will NOT be allowed to rebuild! Under this agreement, Gaza will finally be in the hands of a new Palestinian government that serves its PEOPLE. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL ON THIS AMAZING DEVELOPMENT, THAT EVERYBODY SAID COULD NEVER BE ACHIEVED!"

Trump has been trying to resolve the Israeli occupation of Gaza since taking office.

He came into the conflict fully on the side of Israel, and still largely wants a solution that gives Israel everything it wants while making bombastic threats against Hamas, but has recently grown more frustrated with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

THANKS FOR SUBSCRIBING! ALL ADS REMOVED!

'Remarkable': CNN's Kaitlan Collins dumbfounded by GOP's latest 'gamble'

The chaos around the nomination of Todd Blanche for President Donald Trump's attorney general left CNN's Kaitlan Collins struggling to follow.

The situation is "remarkable," Collins told anchor Pamela Brown, "because just 24 hours ago, the president was telling reporters in the Oval Office that he did not think there were any issues with Todd Blanche's nomination, that he was going to sail through. And now, of course, the president is threatening to withdraw his nomination entirely should they not be able to come to an agreement with these two key Republican Senate holdouts."

Further complicating things, said Collins, the two holdouts, Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and John Cornyn (R-TX), "are going to no longer be in the Senate because of President Trump and the role that he played in ousting them from their offices. And so we'll wait to see if the president actually follows through on that threat if they cannot come to an agreement."

Blanche is now huddling with Cornyn and Tillis to try to come to an agreement.

"It's a dicey situation and a delicate one, because obviously, part of what's at the heart of this and that John Cornyn wants clarification on is what President Trump is benefiting from in this agreement, which is to shield him from retroactive IRS investigation after his tax returns were leaked, obviously, during his first term in office," said Collins.

Ultimately, she added, this is "not just an easy threat for Trump to make."

"He's saying he'll just renominate Todd Blanche at a later date, once Thom Tillis and John Cornyn are out of the Senate," said Collins. But "it is not guaranteed ... that those would be better conditions for this White House. It is a gamble, and the administration does know that."

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Shock as new 'horrific' allegations emerge against 'unhinged' MAGA lawmaker

Onlookers reacted with shock to the new allegations of domestic abuse coming out against a MAGA lawmaker.

On Thursday, a restraining order against Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) filed by his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, revealed more allegations of him lashing out and threatening her. Moreno is the daughter of Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH), and her allegations against Miller have spilled into public view during the past year.

Onlookers reacted online after seeing that Moreno's restraining order alleged that Miller "harassed," "threatened," and "placed his hands on" her attorney. The restraining order also stated that Miller's own attorney said the lawmaker "just can't control himself."

"The allegations here are horrific," political commentator Molly Jong-Fast posted on X.

"I am genuinely scared for her," wrote Democratic strategist Ally Sammarco. "This man is unhinged."

"Miller needs to resign or be removed from office," demanded political commentator Andrew Donaldson. "Clear pattern of behavior making him unfit."

Others called on Republicans to remove or investigate their party member. Legal expert Kristy Greenberg wrote, "The GOP's failure to investigate such serious allegations is outrageous."

"When are the Republicans going to disavow this candidate and get another?" political consultant Lisa Kirbie asked.

Plenty of harsh words were also directed at Sen. Moreno. Democratic strategist Adam Parkhomenko called Sen. Moreno "gutless" in a post because the GOP senator "still not saying anything."

"It's crazy that @berniemoreno still hasn't called on @MaxMillerOH to resign," political analyst and Pod Save America co-host Tommy Vietor wrote.

According to a post by Burgess Everett, the congressional bureau chief for Semafor, a spokesperson for Sen. Moreno said the senator "does not litigate these matters in the media or respond to baseless public attacks."

Copyright © 2026 Raw Story Media, Inc. PO Box 21050, Washington, D.C. 20009 | Masthead | Privacy Policy | Manage Preferences | Debug Logs RS+
For corrections contact corrections@rawstory.com , for support contact support@rawstory.com .

{{ post.roar_specific_data.api_data.analytics }}